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It hasn’t always boasted the best of images — think dirty and beer-soaked — but the hostel industry’s attempt to rebrand itself as a “hotel alternative” is being stymied by a supply shortage.

A study of six European cities — London, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Dublin, Berlin and Paris — shows a shortage of hostel beds, with a marked shortfall in London.

The report, by the estate agent Savills, examined the number of hostel beds per 1,000 overseas visitors aged between 16 and 34 years. London had only 2.8 hostel beds per 1,000 and Paris — despite boasting the biggest youth hostel in Europe, above — even fewer